In the classic movie western “Shane”, a young Brandon de Wilde implores Alan Ladd’s Shane to “Come Back…. Come Back Shane!” But the iconic gunfighter knew his job was done and ‘twas time for to ride off into the sunset.
‘Tis time too for this iconic cyber smart aleck to depart McClatchyLand. AgentPierce has left the comment board mosh pit of The N&O. Whoa!…. How Come?….. Who will thwart the forces of journo-evil?….. “Come Back AP… Come Back!” …..
Today, December 19, The N&O, under orders from their Sacramento bosses, erected a Pay Wall covering access to their website. This was announced several months ago so it was no surprise to anyone. Many other failing newspapers are resorting to this frantic ploy to pick up a few sheckles of badly needed revenue. With print subscribers and advertisers deserting them in droves, it was either the Pay Wall ploy or go to bake sales and car washes.
The visual of Rob “RielleWho” Christensen and Barry “The Colonel” Saunders wearing speedos while flagging down passing cars with a cardboard poster – Car Wash $1.00 – Help Save The N&O” – makes one appreciate the Pay Wall plan, at least for now.
OK, enough cheapshots at these goobers(for now). Here’s the real story. The Pay Wall had nothing to do with my leaving. It is simply a convenient time to do so.
I simply decided it “was time” to leave the mosh pit. Too much time slogging through a toxic septic field of human depravity eventually warps one’s opinion of humanity in general. Like vice cops who deal with pervs, lunatics and assorted societal debris day after day; you get to where even roses smell like Steve Ford’s feet. I had reached that point.
Did I make a difference? Apparently I DID at least as far as being a view magnet for The N&O. My regular barbs and jousts developed quite a loyal fan base. Enthusiastic fans AND loathing foes aplenty. Other viewers clicked in to follow my rampages and commando raids on assorted N&O miscreants and malfactors. Can The N&O survive without me? Lord luv a duck…. I certainly hope so! At least a few more months….. 🙂
I do have to acknowledge….. Editor John Drescher and his executive staffers – Eric Fredrick and Bob Brueckner were incredibly gracious to me during my time on their boards. I was often brutal to their enterprise but I was never banned or censored (except 1-2 times late at night when some dimwitted intern was monitoring the boards.). Yes, I was drawing traffic to their board, but, still I was ripping them new anal sphincters’ on a daily basis. I sincerely thank them for their tolerance.
What about Publisher Orage Quarles? I met him on two occasions. I was not particularly impressed either time. He probably felt the same or more so about me. Quarles is simply a bagman for the McBosses in Sacramento. Those bags are getting smaller and smaller and smaller by the month..
What about those other clods? Do you mean Rob, Barry, Stevie, Keung, Johnny Reb et al? …… They may be decent human beings in “real life” but as foot soldiers for McClatchy’s overt liberal agenda they are naught but ink-stained dweebs who long ago sold their souls hoping for “one more” modest pay check.
“Award-winning” Rob takes himself REALLY REALLY seriously. I’ve found that people who take themselves THAT seriously have other issues too. ….. Barry is a clever wordsmith and a quite hard-core race hustler. If it weren’t for Fred Sanford quotes, his columns would fit on a postage stamp. Barry’s #1 job has always been “piss off the white guys in Cary, Garner and North Raleigh”. He does that job quite well. ….. Stevie Ford is gone…. didn’t write an original column for his last ten years. The rest of’em (John Frank, Keungy et al) are just spear-carriers trying to hold on paycheck to paycheck.
The N&O was always unabashedly “Democratic-leaning” under the Daniels. McClatchy ratcheted up that overt bias 100-fold in recent years culminating in a 2012 pre-election partisan fusillade that made the NYTimes seem like a Limbaugh Letter by comparison.
Maybe Quarles is angling for an Ambassadorship under his pal Barack? He’s likely to be job-hunting soon regardless.
If I were Quarles I would negotiate to buy out the Independent and The Carolinian. Both those are “free papers” but they have the built-in audiences that The N&O has positioned itself to cater to.
As a private company, I acknowledge The N&O’s right to be as bias as it chooses to be. That company spokesmen would never acknowledge that obvious bias is the sign of a corporate coward.
What bout Ol’ BELO? You mean Bruce “You Stab’em, We Slab’em”? My adversarial Moriarty. That ol rascal is a genuine piece o’work. I’d say he and I are “friends”. Not sure he would agree. BELO is a rock-solid racial reparationist down to his last jheri-curl. Every white man is ‘in the Klan’ in BELO’s mind….. except Bill Clinton and maybe Jim Valvano. Ol’ BELO offered to pay my annual subscription if I would stay on the boards. (He wasn’t the only one who offered to.). We had us some grand slugfests over the past year or so. BELO is truly “a hoot”. A “hoot” is not necessarily a bad thing.
Being a capitalist, I never wish any business would fail. I do not wish the N&O “to fail”. America needs a legitimate “4th Estate” news media. The N&O lost its legitimacy some years ago. If The N&O does eventually “fail” it will be by its own sword. Insulting half your market on a daily basis has its consequences.
Me…. I have plenty to keep me busy. Teaming up with BobLee and with the fine folks over at CarolinaPlottHound give me two firm soap boxes from which to launch my cyber nukes at those goggle-eyed lunatics who wish to destroy America. Perhaps more such soap boxes are in our future….. ya just never know.
“…… and amber waves of grain.”
